Conrad Burns, Republican Senator from Montana, recently said the following:
Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who “drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night.”(link)
Looks like a garden variety anti-immigrant slur — they seem to be coming hot and heavy this year (the theme this campaign season seems to be brown-baiting: Latinos and Middle Easterners/South Asians). I suppose it would be possible to say, “well, he’s just talking about terrorism, he never said ‘immigrants’ or ‘South Asian immigrants.'” First, as far as I know no taxi driver is currently being accused of a connection to terrorism, so he’s not literally talking about taxi drivers, but the types of jobs working class immigrants usually start off with when they reach the U.S. Second, this is in fact a slur because it attempts to demonize those same immigrants by lumping them (us) in with genuine threats to American democracy. According to Conrad Burns’ thinking, immigration is terrorism. Wonkette says it with admirable succinctness: “Racist and Insane!”
By the way, it’s not the only WTF caliber comment Senator Burns has made recently:
He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for calling his house painter a “nice little Guatemalan man” during a June speech. Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. The campaign later said the worker is legal.(link)
Hm, I think I might go give my $25 to Jon Tester for Senate. Apparently it’s a close race; I vote we Macacatinate** him.
**Macacatinate: (v.) to inflict a mutinous, internet-based critique than can cause poll numbers to shift once the mainstream media grabs hold of it.
I am confused now. Are you guys in it for the welfare checks, the overturning of the 2nd amendment, or do you simply hate families.
Are you guys in it for the welfare checks
If I was so poor that I qualified for a welfare check, then HELL YEAH! Wont you be? Why wont any poor person be in favor of welfare checks?
the overturning of the 2nd amendment
Hell yeah! Then we can get sane gun control laws though unfortunately the problem right now is the gun lobby and not the second amendment. But repealing the second amnedment will help in looking at the second amendment at a policy level and not as a freedom v freedom haters level. Here is a great book book you might on the second amendment.
And BTW folks,~ 70% of desis seem to vote democrat. So the reality is partisan.
and then there’s the GeorgeSchultz-GregMankiw-ElliotAbrams wing which desis are more keen too.
I am wondering about whats common between the above three people? I would imagine that Schultz could be characterized as a realist in foreign policy while Elliot Abrams is a neo-con and a criminal. Mankiw is an economist. I am not sure what wing would that be?
My apologies. I didn’t realize that on high = senators. I was thinking of desis who are also “high up” in both society and government (not specific to the U.S. alone).
Not me, beta.
Much less dumb than those neocons you’re supporting. Welfare is nothing to be ashamed of – but then I’d see how you’d think otherwise hailing from a country where folks work 3 jobs and still live below the poverty line, a country where health insurance is privatized…lovely state it is in. And the 2nd amendment – isn’t that the one that concerns gun control(or should I say lack of control)? I’m not even wasting words on that one. I can’t believe there are desis that would support the ownership of guns. Where did I say btw that I supported those gutless, spinless Democrats? The Reps HAVE actually been pushing for the abolishment of gay marriage, abortion and have supported tax cuts for the ultra rich, so my statement was not all that ridiculous.
I hate to say this, but it looks like y’all are just posed for ‘nuther Handmaid’s Tale/1984.
Not what I’d call “hating families,” but yes, there are childfree desis. This past year is the first time any significant numbers have shown up on my Google searches.
Was that a kaka joke? Or am I the only one seeing that?
This is what one desi once wrote about being deprived of the right to own firearms:
This is what one desi once wrote about being deprived of the right to own firearms:
I know LOTS of desis who bought firearms right after 9-11, for self-prtoection. From what I’m told, the unclejis weren’t too good on the firing ranges 😉
Meena,
Owning firearms and other weaponry has traditionally been common amongst certain quarters of the population back in the subcontinent, and it therefore stands to reason that people from those backgrounds in particular would perhaps be more amenable to the idea of possessing guns in the US under certain circumstances.
Ryan Sager said it best on RealClearPolitics (one of those terrible righty sites): “What is going on with Republicans these days?”
Notice how the rebuttal to a politician’s insult from some in this thread is to insult more people……all class, some of you! I hardly know where to begin.
Meena, as much as I love your dutch desitude, you are being sold a bill of goods about the differences between right and left in this country. I guess you must watch a lot of BBCi, huh? I love how neocon is thrown around in a completely loose fashion, without any knowledge of the roots of the term. Neoconservatives, as the term is traditionally and historically defined, were leftists who left the left due to the lack of a robust response to communism. We are talking about people from years ago and the defining idea certainly wasn’t welfare or any domestic policies. It had to do with foreign policy. The original neocons were even former marxists, as I understand it.
Condoleeza Rice’s father was part of a group of blacks who defended her neighborhood from anti-white violence after the bombings in Birmingham by patrolling neighborhoods with guns. They should have not defended themselves, right?
Are any of you up on the tenth anniversary of welfare reform, a thoroughly righty idea passed (to his credit and agains gnashing of teeth from many democrats) by Clinton? The same welfare to work reform that is being hailed by both right and left as one of the most successful policies ever?
I remember when this used to be one of the most intelligent boards on the net: all points of view, right, left, up, down, detailed and with reason and logic as the basis for commenting. Burns is a fool. He’s not the only one.
I find the othering of my distinctly right of center views on this board oppressive!
The thing that worries me about this senator’s ignorant comments, is that when there is a media outcry about such ignorance, there isn’t an adequate explanation/correction – just an outrage about how un-PC the comments are. It seems like the only reply is “there are alot of hard-working taxi drivers” almost gives more power to Sen. Burns comments; almost equivalent to saying “there are SOME cab drivers that are terrorists – but don’t worry, these are few and far between.” That’s simply not enough (btw, I’m not talking about here at SM, but in the popular media) because people will latch on to the ridiculous fear that there may be some terrorist cab drivers. Once that misguided perception is “out there” it’s really hard to refute. There has to be somewhat of an education process so that innocent people are not hurt, as after 9/11. False perceptions, such as the belief that sikh turbans = arabs, or brown skin=arab, or arab=terrorist or muslim=terrorist, led to alot of attacks (and even about 9 reported deaths) of innocent people of both arab-descent as well as other browns who are not of arab-descent and/or muslim. I hate to call them retaliation murders because they DIDN’T DO ANYTHING to warrant any kind of retaliation.
SO, I believe that, after such idiotic statements, we, as a community, have to reach the media asap and attempt to educate the masses before some idiot goes out and murders another innocent victim. Something along the lines of acknowledging Sen. Burns error, a “brief” explanation of the diverse make-up of the brown community, and a clarification that there have been no terrorists from the cab-driving community.
Valerie Kaur’s film, Divided We Fall: http://www.dwf-film.com/
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/002190.html
http://www.saja.org/roundupsept11.html
The best rebuttal to Burn’s is the Kos rebuttal to Allen: you know, the one linked on the news section. DEtailing prominent Indian Americans. We have cash Indian Americans. Why not take out an ad (where is best I’m not sure) based on that as a sort of non-partisan informational campaign? Yeah, you heard that right. I’m recommending Kos.
in #61 anti-white should be anti-black, of course. Apologies to the uptight types how don’t like it when you correct your mistakes.
Why wouldn’t any ‘terrorist looking’ store owners, and cab drivers keep a gun for protection ? Particularly in light of comments like these.
MD,
was that a pig i just saw breezing past my third-floor window?
no othering from this other, just disagreement. you are absolutely right that the neo-cons are ex-leftists, but the “response to communism” question wasn’t the only thing that made them leave, and there were many views on the response to communism, not just appease or fight back. there continued to be many views within the american left (such as it is), and many disagreements on many matters, as anyone who ever went to one of those endless activist-group meetings in college can attest.
and, meena:
i feel you, sister, but i have to agree with MD that you’re getting, or have formed in your mind, a very reductionist view of the situation over here. i know that the majority of public opinion in many countries is quite aghast at US foreign policy, or aspects of it, right now, and that many people around the world feel that the US isn’t doing a very good job as a superpower, either internationally or for its own people. and i agree with that. HOWEVER, politics here has many shades of gray, many ambiguities, and a huge amount of local variation. republicans do not equal neo-cons, democrats are not all spineless (though i do wonder sometimes), and the oil industry isn’t all about destroying trees. in fact, the oil industry in louisiana is united with environmentalists in wanting to restore the wetlands whose erosion over the years contributed to the katrina disaster. you might reply that the oil industry had something to do with getting to that situation in the first place, and you’d be right, but to assume that those interests were the same that prevail today would be a mistake. in politics as everything else, things change, unintended consequences prove more significant than intended ones, and so forth. here in the US even a lot of republicans are upset at the bush administration for one reason or another. we’re working on it, sister, we’re working on it, but we’re going to do it our own way and it may appear surprising to others.
that’s it for now. peace & respects to you both, and everyone else.
I love how neocon is thrown around in a completely loose fashion, without any knowledge of the roots of the term.
A little pretentious, arnt we!
Nina: thanks for the link!
Long time SM observer here. I felt obliged to post after I started noticing a trend here.
It appears overly hypersensitive to criticize Burns’ remarks (or even Allen’s, for that matter). There was no mention of us browns (or even Arabs) in his comments. Are those who “drive cabs” or “kill at night” exclusively brown? Does anyone know even, for sure, the origin and meaning of a “macaca”? Outside of a few obscure references, I don’t believe anyone can present a relevent citation to the word in the American press/lexicon.
As someone mentioned previously, as far as we know, none of the 911 hijackers were cabbies. If anything, accuse the senator (and Allen) of being stupid, not racist.
AMFD – Why the nasty condescension? Aren’t the Democrats racist?
If all Indian – Amreekans started voting left, irrespective of their concerns and goals, not only would that lead terribly boring parties, it could also lead to the “being taken for granted syndrome”, which I notice is already prevalent amongst some desis.
Hey, the Republicans can do better, but given what is out there, they work for me just fine …for now.
Okay, apologies all around (she says shame-facedly). First, to call out name callers and then to name call someone as fool is wrong. I apologize.
Second, to call out mistakes when I made a whopper is the height of dumbness and I personified it in my comments. Neocons were often former trotskyites, not marxists. Duh. I don’t know why I wrote that when I know better.
Finally, I think I need to take one of my periodic SM breaks. Hey, you can wait till I leave before you all start clapping, okay 🙂
This racism is coming from both sides, in varying degrees. I think we should call them out regardless of affiliations. To become apaologists for either side because their political positions resonate with our own positions is just foolishness, imo, and we’d deserve to be trammeled upon. Lets settle this racism shit first, make it like they can’t mess with us, and then worry about affiliations.
“If anything, accuse the senator (and Allen) of being stupid, not racist.”
Whatevs. The implications are dangerous, as I pointed out in my prev post (#62). And because a large number of cabbies are brown, just by association alone, it is enough to imply that “browns are terrorists”. It would be naive to assume he just pulled the occupation out of a hat, randomly.
Btw, Below are a few of the “angry” Sepia reactions to Biden’s racist/xenophobic remarks.
AK – “as for stupid comments like biden’s, i think that as a community we tend to overreact to them way too much “
brown fury -” if you watch the video- he was clearly joking. it’s the kind of joke if one of your buddies made (brown or non-brown), it would be funny, because they know you. and basically, “
Abhi – “Yeah, I tend to agree (especially with the latter part of brown fury’s comment). It seems like Biden may have tried to be cute and came off sounding ignorant. For the record I still consider him a top 5 Dem. 1-3 are just a lot better.”
Janeofalltrades – “And I sincerely believe there is no malice or negativity involved with it. They seriously are ignorant. Joe Biden unfortunately falls into that category.”
Grow some cojones, ladies and Gents…
kritic, give it a rest. there were plenty of other people who said other things, too. and some of them vote democrat or are your dreaded leftists, like me. just as there are different views on the allen thing. if more people here seem up in arms about the allen thing than the biden thing, so what? we report (you notice we actually report on these things no matter the perpetrator) and you decide. your selective quoting tricks are silly, and insulting a whole group of people (“grow some cojones”) is a jack move.
AMFD – Why the nasty condescension? Aren’t the Democrats racist?
In short, NO, though I am sure there are some individual democrats who are racists. The Democrats of course have racists among their ranks (byrd and a whole generation of ex-democrats in the south) However the Democrats do not engage in racial demagoguery to win elections precisely because of the fact that the democratic base is not racist in general. The Republicans engage in race baiting in elections precisely because of the fact that race baiting helps them gain votes in some quarters of the republican party. Can you cite me one example of democrats using racial demagoguery in an election as a ploy to rally their base?
I was one of the people who were on the side of “not feeling hurt” by Biden’s comments. I feel that he really wanted to be cute and that remark slipped. In anycase I had commented that “Indians running Dough nut shops” isnt offensive at all. Infact I take that as a compliment to the enterpenarial spirit of Desis.
Compare that against the xenophobic (welcome to America, WTF??) racist (macaca) remark and singling out of a young Desi boy infront of a large non-desi crowd. I mean c’mon… for god sake there is no comparison with what Biden said and what Allen did.
And yeah WTF is this genus monkey thing that every media person quotes. What about the French Tunisian connection of this A-hole Senetor?? Its like me calling a racist remark to some non-Desi person in real street Hindi and media explaining the “word” completely discounting the fact that in certain part of India that word means a certain specific thing. Ridiculous !!!!!
Siddartha – You seemed to have missed this much more “Jacker” comment by AMFD #16 –
” I always wonder about whether I would be a House Republican or a field Republican 😉 ….if I was a republican.”
And, Yes, I did use the quotes selectively to make a point about double standards. IMHO, Racism is Racism is Racism………..
p.s. I sincerely apologize for the cojones remark. Esp, to the ladies.
Why did Dubya operatives accuse McCain of having a black child? Because that is perceived as a negative by some of the South Carolina Republican primary voters. Why do you think that Reagan started his election campaign from Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi? Look not all Republicans are racist and I am well aware of the fact. But we know the wink wink references and codes which appeal to the base racism of some white votes, especially in the South. To pretend otherwise would be naive. The Republican base consitutes a group (not the majority) which is not at ease with the minorities. They have to be pandered to and at the same time done in a way which wont alienate the suburban moms. Thats a fact of political life in America.
Kritic, your balls are more than our balls. One day, we will grow them (our balls, not your balls) to a sufficient size. And when that day comes, they (the senators, not our balls) better all beware, both Democrat and Republican! But especially Democrats, who’ve had a free pass for too long.
Down with racist Democrats! We want double balls, not double standards!
Unfortunately, as a house republican, I also found the clinton and biden comments totally unoffensive. I mean, without stereotyping, sociology would be impossible.
Allen wasn’t stereotyping, rather he was using a racial slur of which in all likelyhood, given his french background, he knew the meaning.
Burns was steroptyping, but not in the complimentary way of biden and clinton (who stereotyped indians as successful franchise owners—and btw, i think gandhi would have loved the clinton comment, given the way he was down with the lower classes. it’s mostly the elitism in us that took offense.)
But can we accept positive stereotypes while rejecting negative ones? stereotypes have a basis in reality. most islamic fascists are brown, thus burns chose a brown profession to make his point that islamic terrorists live amongst us. he didn’t say all browns or cabbies are terrorists, though the masses may take it that way; ergo the sensitivity.
Another day, another demagogue pandering to his brain-dead “CON-stituent’s” fears of the Big Bad Brown Bomb-carrying Boogie-man. Yes, taxi-drivers, who routinely pull 12 hour shifts 6 days a week, barely see their families, have an abundance of free time to hatch ingenius acts of sabotage against AMRIKA. And then they wonder how a naive slack- jawed yokel could be so confused as to attack some innocent sardarji cabbie.
Sid & MD,
thanks for the lengthy explanations. And yes, I do as a matter of fact happen to watch a lot of BBC(1, 2 & World Service) as well as read The Guardian(and like-minded Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad). Not only that, but I have to point out that my father, who has spent many years in the USA, has also partly contributed to my pre-conceived notions, as well as conversations with various Americans. I know that a long while back the Republican party used to be an entirely different beast. But I actually still can’t get over how anyone can vote for party which promotes Christianity, Creationism, anti-abortion, anti-homosexual(forget even the marriage part) and anti-enviromentalism on the whole. Probably there are some fringe Reps who feel rather differently but the point is that these people I have described above are the ones in power, and frankly I find that very worrying. By the way, I’m not so ignorant to think that loose gun laws are the only factor contributing to America’s high crime rates. I’ve heard a saying that “a black person who supports the Republican party is like a chicken that supports Colonel Sanders”, and frankly I think that applies to Indians as well. Although I don’t think the GOP is racist at the outset, and though I don’t feel that this current administration is hostile towards minorities either, it seems that all this Bible-thumping anyway amounts to the same thing. But that’s just my perception. ]
(I can’t count the amount of times my dad has stated that desis who vote for the GOP are just complete nutjobs. Often he jokingly expands this profound analysis to ALL Indian-Americans, which is quite unfair of course. Although admittedly the prejudice is still lurking even for me.)
I’ll have to point out what I did earlier, that namely Welfare might not be such a bad thing after all. How positive is it that folks(read: single mothers) who have had no control over their situation have to work 3 jobs to support their families?
Vikram, it doesn’t matter what Gandhi ultimately said, because the USA is not lawless, oppressed India of the turn of the century. The last thing anyone needs in a country like that is some sort of street gang or militia.
Although admittedly my dad lived in the US of A during the Reagan years, which might’ve biased him more against Republicans. Sorry dudes ‘n dudettes, but there is no excuse for supporting Reagan, especially not for a desi.
Oooh, snap! She called Siddhartha “Sid.”
places down teacup
” I always wonder about whether I would be a House Republican or a field Republican 😉
Kritic, I was kidding with that comment.
Then challenger Clinton calling out an obscure pop culture figure (Sister Souljah) has come to define a politican cynically rallying their base. I didn’t really want to play backsies but your comments are pretty hyperbolic.
Kritic —
It’s very clever of you to rip a few comments out of context to manufacture a point — especially useful when you don’t have much of one. Cleverness, at the end of the day, doesn’t substitute for substance — not only is Siddhartha correct that other people were critical in the Biden thread, but I think that each and every person you quote also said things that were critical of Biden.
But let me take your bait: As for stupid comments like Burns’s, I tend to think that we overreact to them as well, without keeping our eyes on the ball. The comment count on this site for “comment news” is infinitely higher than for news on actual substantive issues, like the government’s efforts to deprive US citizens of their fundamental right to enter their own country.
Which is not to say that we shouldn’t react to and criticize these kinds of comments. But we should always pay attention to context — the context of the statements themselves but also the context of their policy positions on substantive issues. Go back and read all of what I and others said about Biden, rather than pulling out a few quotes here and there that suit you.
So, what was your point again?
p.s. — clinton’s sistah souljah episode was more an effort to distance himself from his base and play for the center, not rally it.
AMfD:
I may or may not belive the folllowing examples are racial demagoguery, but by dem standards they would qualify. off the top of my head:
Kerry destroyed Howard Dean by running an ad showing dean and Osama bin Laden, and charging dean w/ a lack of foreign policy experience. dems charged the republicans with mccarthyism and racism when they used obl in ads.
the guy running against sen allen used an anti-semetic ad, ironically.
the whole outsourcing issue plays into Xenophobia and racism against indians in particular, by dem standards.
robert byrd
the ad against bush, showing a a black man being dragged to his death, was racially inflamitory and not good for race relations in the US.
in the electoral year of 1996, clinton took up the hoax of black bhurch burnings, again not good for race relations.
the crown heights riot and anti-semitism
cynthia mckinney
MD —
Why? Don’t stay away too long….
Manju: You are right about cynthia mckinney. I dont believe Byrd has done race baiting in the last couple of decades. Actually there are some examples of democrats engaging in race baiting (especially black democrats) in local elections. I dont think the Democrats have done that in a presidential election.
Thanks for simplifying the matter for the rest of us. You obviously have a better handle on these issues to be able to dismiss Gandhi so easily. I find it ironic that for people who lament about the government abrogating more and more rights of the citizens, that depriving constitutionally legal gun ownership by that same intrusive government is encouraged wholeheartedly. You seem to forget that adage that “laws are followed only by the law abiding”.
Believe it or not, concern for millions of Indians living in endemic poverty, takes precedence over Gay rights for some Indian – Amreekans.
And the party, which does the most to help bring India and America closer gets my vote.
Thank you! I’ve been saying this for years. The only thing I hate more than stupid white folks burning churches is stupid black folks complaining about it. Yes we all know racism is bad, but talking about it is hoaxy, and that’s what’s really killing race relations.
These black people need some balls on the double.
Although, really I have to point out that on this side of the Altantic we don’t have anything to be proud of either, as the Cabinet fell for the 3rd time in the space of around 4-5 years(first Sebrenica, the second time some other severe bungling but I don’t remember what, and now because one of the ruling parties decided to call crisis). Now I can actively vote in my first national election. That said, quite a lot of people were cheering on the fall of the past Cabinet. The joys of a multi party system!
I find it ironic that for people who lament about the government abrogating more and more rights of the citizens, that depriving constitutionally legal gun ownership by that same intrusive government is encouraged wholeheartedly
Some of us dont believe that the consitution does in fact allow for unrestricted ownership of guns in the hands of all citizens.
At least an enforcement of background checks would help. Guns are so lethal because they can kill from a long range, unlike say a kitchen knife or a golf club. At any rate, I really don’t see the point of gun ownership, since to ensure full safety the gun should be kept unloaded under lock and key, and yet when one IS confronted with a criminal the gun is useless because it is either locked away, or in any case not loaded! I heard recently though that there was a law passed in the USA which enabled common citizens to kill a burglar without facing legal ramfications – talk about an utterly mad and disproportionate reaction.
Some of us don’t believe that ‘gun control’ ought to be a euphemisim for an outright ban on the ownership of firearms by anyone beside the state police. No group in America is calling for ‘unrestricted ownership of guns in the hands of all citizens’.
Some of us don’t believe that ‘gun control’ ought to be a euphemisim for an outright ban on the ownership of firearms by anyone beside the state police. No group in America is calling for ‘unrestricted ownership of guns in the hands of all citizens’.
I dont believe the constitution gives right to any private citizen to have even restricted ownership of guns.
Aren’t felons legally barred from owning guns ? So I wouldn’t say all citizens are free to own guns.
The Office of Legal Counsel for the the Attorney General issued a memorandum that states in part:
I don’t see anyone calling for the revoking of the First Amendment even though it is used by Neo-nazis and other hate groups to spread their propaganda. And legal organizations bend over backwards to offer such groups legal assistance to allow their unrestricted access to that right against any government/public opposition. So why should the Second Amendment be revoked if it is misused by a criminal group ?